God's Battalions: The Case For The Crusades [Paperback]

The truth about the Christian Crusades and Muslim Jihad.

The truth about the Christian Crusades and Muslim Jihad.

Through his many books, Rodney Stark has made us rethink so much of what we had assumed about the history of Christianity and its relations with other faiths, and now GODS BATTALIONS launches a frontal assault on the comfortable myths that scholars have popularized about the crusades. The results are startling. His greatest achievement is to make us see the crusaders on their own terms. -Philip Jenkins, author of THE LOST HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY

At last, a convincing, balanced book on the Crusades, far from the recent unsophisticated and ideological diatribes against them as A Bad Thing. Stark demonstrates that the Crusades were neither unprovoked nor colonialist. Their primary motivation, though sometimes abused, was both defensive and spiritual. Here is yet another rich and readable book from this thoughtful and distinguished author. -Jeffrey Burton Russell, author of A History of Heaven and Paradise Mislaid

GODS BATTALIONS launches a frontal assault on the comfortable myths that scholars have popularized about the crusades. The results are startling. His greatest achievement is to make us see the crusaders on their own terms. -Philip Jenkins, author of The Lost History of Christianity

At last, a convincing, balanced book on the Crusades, far from the recent unsophisticated and ideological diatribes against them as A Bad Thing. Rodney Stark demonstrates that the Crusades were neither unprovoked nor colonialist. Here is yet another rich and readable book from this thoughtful and distinguished author. -Jeffrey Burton Russell, author of A History of Heaven and Paradise Mislaid

Prolific sociologist-cum-historian Rodney Stark turns his attention to the Crusades-and he really, really likes what he sees. The seven campaigns against Muslim civilil#c